Counting down Louisiana football's Preseason Top 50: No. 18 Destrehan

Donovon Isom and the Wildcats are poised for a deep playoff run. (Brett Duke, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Over 10 weeks, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune will reveal its Preseason Top 50, ranking Louisiana's top football teams, regardless of classification.

Each weekday, the prep staff will give a brief look into what's to come in 2013 by profiling one team, culminating with No. 1 on Friday, Aug. 9. Want to know where your team ranks or what the competition will look like next season? Well, just visit highschoolsports.nola.com.

OVERVIEW: In coach Stephen Robicheaux’s first season during his second stint with Destrehan, things didn’t quite go as planned. The always-competitive Wildcats finished 4-5, lost their final three games and missed the playoffs.

And yet there’s so much to be optimistic about.

Robicheaux’s career 104-28 record as a head coach is undeniable, and senior quarterback Donovan Isom is a heady 6-foot-4 quarterback with a big arm and prime-time mobility.

Isom’s potential is boundless: he has already received offers from Miami, Louisiana Tech and Utah to name a few, and they’re sure to keep rolling in if the second-year starter improves on last year’s performance.

And he likely will, because the offense projects to be downright scary.

Isom will look to seniors Mike Smith and junior Alfred Smith running patterns, and junior Will Matthews provides a legitimate rushing option. As if this weren’t enough, Robicheaux has intimated that backup quarterback Rashaud Joseph could emerge as an offensive weapon from multiple positions.

Defensively, Destrehan returns eight starters, including the entire secondary. Senior linebacker Rae Juan Marbley has received an offer from Tulane and figures to be the anchor of the veteran unit.

Along with Hahnville and East St. John, Destrehan will transition to District 7-5A this year.

BIGGEST GAME: The bookends will be fascinating. The opener against West Jefferson will reveal whether Destrehan is capable of jumping back to elite class this season, but a season-ending road game at East St. John figures to be enormous. It wouldn’t be at all shocking if the district crown and positioning for top-five playoff seeds were at stake.

Quotable: “Donovan is our guy at quarterback, but we’re going to try to get Rashaud Joseph more involved in the offense, too… and we’ve already got a lot of pretty good players involved.” — Coach Stephen Robicheaux